At the same time, according to Lipavský, buying more American fossil gas — which Trump has said is key to addressing the trade imbalance — is “a good proposal, and I support it.”
The European Commission has held a series of talks with U.S. counterparts, and despite a failure to agree a deal so far, “we should continue with that,” he added.
EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič and other top officials visited Washington in recent weeks to try to secure an agreement that would spare it inclusion in Trump’s widely criticized tariff list, unveiled Wednesday. Brussels has even proposed actively investing in American fossil fuel infrastructure as part of efforts to boost imports — but diplomats told POLITICO those plans had been met with a lack of interest by the U.S. administration.
Lipavský said he was still convinced Šefčovič was “doing a good job,” despite those challenges. “He has those numbers crunched in a good way, so this puts quite a lot of faith in me that he’s capable to negotiate it,” he said.
“We should show our strength and dedication for negotiations with the U.S. side,” he said. “The best case scenario is to avert it — to explain to the U.S. side that it’s better to have a strong trade between us and America. If that is not being heard, then we must act.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to retaliate to Trump’s tariffs with measures of her own, expected as early as next week.
